To celebrate this three in one blog we have decided to do a little giveaway of three of our favorite things. One representing work, one representing life, and one representing fun. And these three prizes are going to go to three of you! It’s so easy. All you have to do is leave us a comment saying hello (and if you want to go ahead and subscribe we wouldn’t mind that either) on any of the new posts including the engagement session below and anything else posted through the end of this week. We’ve got so much good stuff that we’ve been storing up so check back in daily to see what’s new. We will randomly select three commenters from all the new comments on Sunday and announce the winner in Sunday’s post.

The goods:
1 Kata Neck Strap (our all time favorite camera strap!)
1 Jim Gaffigan “King Baby” DVD (one of our all time favorite stand up comedians!)
1 Anthropologie Baltic Amber Candle (our favorite scent!)
*camera and memory cards not included in giveaway

So, take a look around, add this new blog to your reader, bookmark it, and if you’ve linked to us anywhere, please update the link. We can’t wait to meet all of you and show you what we’ve been holding captive for the last few weeks!

Love and changes,
Becka & Nate

Quality time ensued…

“Can I mix it now?”
“No you can’t mix it with all the flour in it. You have to use the wooden spoon.”
“Why?”
“Could you imagine what it would look like to put those spinning beaters in this bowl of flour? POOF! (I then begin miming an epic flour explosion with my hands and face.) Is this your first time baking?”
“No, I baked with my mom when I was little.”
“Was your favorite part mixing with the beaters?”
“No, she wouldn’t let me do it.”
“Why?”
“Because I always made a big mess.”
“Makes sense.”

“Did you like the ice cream and the cookies?” I asked.
“They were my second favorite.” He replied.
“Which one was your second favorite?”
“Both… My favorite part of the night was just spending time with you.”

We thought we’d share the ice cream recipe because it was really fantastic. It is from the show Everyday Italian by Cutie McCuteface, Giada De Laurentiis.

Ingredients:
2 c. whole milk
1 c. heavy cream
3/4 c. sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. Nutella

1. In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, (about 5 minutes).

2. In a medium bowl beat the egg yolks with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow (about 4 minutes).

3. Pour 1/2 cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir. Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, (about 7 to 10 minutes).

4. Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. Stir in the vanilla and Nutella until it dissolves. Chill mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions to freeze. (You cam make it without an ice cream maker. Just pour the mix into a container and freeze 6-8 hours, stirring every few hours.)

Love and desserts,
Becka & Nate

It’s Friday and I’m excited to bring you volume 2 of Five Senses Friday. (I’m really starting to like these). Basically, 5 Senses Friday is just a summary of the best things from the day or the week. I jumped on the bandwagon after seeing it on Modish, who got the idea from Abby Try Again. ;)

touching:
The bubbly blanket separating the lava hot laptop from the skin of my legs. This is day 2 of working in the living room. After 3 14-hour days in the office I needed a change of space. Sue me. (No don’t actually, I don’t want to deal with that crap.)

seeing:
An overnight bag, open but unpacked. New clothes, shoes, and accessories (What? Target had a big sale. Don’t judge me.) are making it hard to decide what to pack. It kind of like when you go grocery shopping when you’re hungry and then you get home and can’t decide what to eat because just want to eat everything.

tasting:
Corn risotto with fresh grated parmesan cheese and melted goat cheese. Eating in season is something I’m trying to get better at, which means that I can’t just limit our veggie intake to zucchini in our pasta. The other day Publix had this corn risotto recipe as a sample (since their corn section overfloweth.) and Nate and I loved it. I’ve added a few of my own personal touches (hello cheese!) And yes, you may all now begin to refer to me as the “domestic goddess” because this stuff is that good.

Fresh Corn Risotto with Parm and Goat Cheese
4 ears fresh corn
1 32 oz box organic veggie broth
1 c. arborio rice
1 c. diced onions
2 tbs. unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. dried basil
2 tbs. fresh grated parmesan
1/8 c. crumbled goat cheese
Salt + pepper

1. Remove the husks and silks from the corn. Slice downward to cut off the corn kernels. Place the corn in a large microwavable bowl along with the veggie broth, onions, rice, butter, and basil
2. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Stir.
3. Cook 10-15 more minutes, until rice and veggies are tender.
4. Stir in cheeses and salt and pepper to taste. The rice will thicken as it stands. Serve warm.

hearing:
The documentary The Business of Being Born playing via Netflix on the TV while I work. It’s amazing. Every woman should watch it. It was really interesting. Nate watched it with me and we just kept looking at each other and musing, “I didn’t know that. Oh my gosh, that looks so peaceful! That makes sense.” And no, I’m not pregnant.

smelling:
Coffee. I just started a new pot and the warm scent is filling the space. “2nd pot?” you ask? Why yes, it is. Because the new Italian Sweet Cream creamer we got is just that good.

Happy Friday everyone! Happy weekend! Best wishes to all the photographers out there capturing weddings this weekend and to the brides and grooms saying the big “I DO”. We’ll be thinking fond thoughts of you while we relax with our family and play Killer Uno! (That’s totally a lie. The thinking about work part, not the Uno part.)

Leave us a little note to see when we get back to the office! :)

Love and weekends,
Becka & Nate

tasting:
the most delicious lemonade in the world (it may only be so delicious because I’m so thirsty)
and perhaps a bite (or five) of cruelty-free cookie dough

seeing:
photos, photos, and more photos as I catch up on all of our post processing
a single silvery hair? what?! whhhhaaattttt?????
a house finally coming together, but needing some cool garage sale finds!
an old friend for coffee

hearing:
the electronic screwdriver- a girl’s best friend. Hanging things on the wall is a breeze!
Kings of Leon, Nate’s new favorite thing to listen to, all the time
a domestic dispute next door- that lady is not happy.

touching:
the smooth steel of a Chef’s knife (our new kitchen has re-ignited my love of cooking)
the bubbly fabric of our new throw blanket (thank ikea) while I edit wedding photos
the soft microfiber arm chair while I move it around the living room 4 times before settling on an arrangement

smelling:
Oh so sweet Baltic Amber (aka “Anthropologie candle”, no I won’t shut up about it.)
the smell of our old condo on our clothes as we organize the closet
Spicy ramen noodles from the asian market for lunch

Have a fabulous fourth of July weekend! See ya’ll on Monday. :)
Since the kitchen is the only room that’s finished, here’s a little look:

Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to take out quick one-question poll. I am so excited by the answers coming in because it looks as if you guys are wanting exactly what I was wanting to give. This is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship! If you haven’t taken the poll yet, please take a second to let us know what you’d like to see more of here on the blog.

Today is Earth Day and it’s lovely outside. Maybe I’ll feel better if I go outside for a while. As soon as this blog post is up I’m going to force myself to go for a run. But first, I thought it might be fun to share with you my favorite, simple, “green” way to be a better consumer and decrease your carbon footprint.

It’s… BAGGU Bags!

I don’t even remember how I originally heard about these bags but I just love them. They were originally created by a mother/daughter team (how cute is that?) and their small little business has boomed into something amazing! Each of the regular sized bags holds as much as 3 plastic grocery bags and using just 1 baggu bag for a year keeps up to 700 plastic grocery bags out of our landfills! They also come with a tiny pouch that they can be folded up and stored in. They are small enough to carry in your glove compartment or even your purse. They have a rainbow of colors available. So many, in fact, that you could literally color coordinate your bags to your outfit any day of the week! Or, if you’re planning a wedding, you could go and be inspired for your own wedding day color palette.

In honor of Earth Day, we’re going to give some of these awesome bags away! The winner will get their choice of either 2 regular sized bags or one large bag. (The perfect amount for your weekend trip to the farmer’s market!) So head over to the BAGGU site and take a look around. Let us know your favorite colors and what creative things you would use them for in your life. Make sure you leave your email address in the comment so that we can contact you if you are the winner! Nate and I will read over all the comments and pick a winner tomorrow at 2:22pm. :)